Tag Archives: red light cameras

The in basket: Mike DeMinter wrote in August to say, “A couple
of days ago I noticed someone is working on the traffic

lights at the Bethel/Lund intersection in Port Orchard.
Are they also going to reposition the left turn sensor that
signifies traffic flow from Bethel onto Lund (towards Jackson
Avenue)?

“When Lund was widened a few years ago, a right-turn lane was
put in for cars that want to turn onto Bethel and progress towards
the bowling alley,” he said. “The creation of the additional
lane caused the white line markers on Bethel to be moved back. What
was forgotten

is the left turn sensor mentioned above. It appears to
have been

left untouched.

“As it stands now, approximately three-fourths of the
sensor

wire is in front of the white line and thus not
usable.

“Consequently,” he said, “cars that want to make a left onto
Lund must ‘snuggle up’ to the double-white line in order to be
‘sensed.’ Many times I have had to wait extraordinary lengths
of time behind cautious drivers who stop a few feet behind the
double white line and wait through several light changes until they
finally realize what is going on and move up.”

Belinda Wright has a question about the same intersection. She
was reading on the Road Warrior blog at kitsapsun.com about
the limitation on Bremerton’s red light enforcement cameras to only
two directions of travel per intersection that they can
monitor.

“What look like cameras have been installed at Bethel and Lund
in Port Orchard and it looks like they are pointing in all four
directions. What’s up with that?” she asked.

The out basket: Jeff Shea, Kitsap County traffic engineer,
without addressing Mike’s interpretation of what led to the
problems, says “The traffic control box, which houses the
electronics that runs the lights, was recently replaced. Many of
the loops in this intersection are beginning to fail.”

The county has replaced them with the new overhead traffic
detection cameras, one for each direction. Those are what Belinda
sees on the cross arms, not red light enforcement cameras. Only
Bremerton has them and at only a handful of locations. They look
nothing like the detection cameras and aren’t on the signal cross
arms

The overhead cameras are gradually replacing the in-pavement
detector loops because they can be repaired without tearing up the
pavement and can remain in service when something else requires
digging up the road surface.

The in basket: Mary Bulmer says her neighbor told her his nephew
recently got a ticket for making a legal right turn on a red light
at an intersection in Bremerton equipped with one of the red light
enforcement cameras. She’s heard a lot of people have been ticketed
for right turns on red and wonders how that might effect her,
particularly at Warren Avenue and Sheridan Road.
The out basket: That intersection is not one that has the red light
cameras, but Mary is right that right turners who don’t stop
properly before turning on a red light where there is a camera are
getting tickets.
In fact, I was surprised to learn from Lt. Pete Fisher of the
Bremerton police traffic division that improper right turns are far
and away the most often cited infraction caught by the cameras.
The camera at 11th Street and Callow Avenue, for example, between
April 7 and May 7, caught violations for which tickets were issued
for 146 right turns against the light, 45 left turns and only five
through traffic red light infractions.
At Sylvan and Wheaton ways during the same period, there were 57
right turns, 23 left turns and nine through traffic
infractions.
Right turns on red remain legal at the camera intersections, but
they have to be done correctly. Sgt. Wendy Davis of Pete’s division
says that technically requires stopping before crossing the broad
white stop bar. But the department is usually waiving a citation
for those who cross the stop bar but come to a complete stop before
entering the cross street. Exceptions are when the person doesn’t
stop until well into the intersection, she said. That often happens
when a driver sees the flash from the red light camera and realizes
he or she has been captured in a violation.
They waive an infraction in about 10 percent of the times the
cameras record a right turn done against the light, she said.
I was glad to hear about that measure of leniency, because I’ve
come to realize I almost never stop at a stop sign or red light
until I’m across the stop bar if cars ahead of me don’t stop me
farther back. Check out Colleen Smidt’s comment below for another
perspective on that.
On its face, Pete’s figures seemed to me to validate my belief that
the cameras are preying on the turners who run the light, rather
than those passing straight through and hence probably moving much
faster. They present the only real accident hazard, I have said in
the past.
What I forget, Pete told me, is pedestrians. A pedestrian can be
badly injured or killed by even a slow moving car, and pedestrians
can easily be hit by cars turning against a red light.
“When you see the video, you get a greater appreciation for the
hazards these violators are creating for other motorists and
pedestrians,” he said. “Both right and left-turn violators threaten
pedestrians. We have seen pedestrians shaking their fists or
otherwise reacting when there is a conflict.”
The cameras take a 12-second video of each violation as well as two
still shots. Those ticketed can go online and see the shots of
their violation, but other members of the public can’t.
I was also surprised to learn that no intersection can have more
than two directions of travel monitored by the cameras. The law
allowing them limits them to two per intersection, and each camera
takes pictures of only one direction of travel. He didn’t know why,
it’s just the way the law reads.
Also of interest is the fact that someone who ignores and nearly
hits a pedestrian in the crosswalk after coming to a full stop
behind the stop bar can’t be cited for that on the basis of the
photos. They can lead to citations only for red light violations,
regardless of whatever else they show, Pete said.